


Hands of God

by Shtrigga



Series: Once in a lifetime groove [3]
Category: Being Human (UK), The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Bragi and vampires, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Weird godly powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 04:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5771539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shtrigga/pseuds/Shtrigga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Anders realizes he may have not yet discovered all of his godly powers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hands of God

Anders was sitting quietly on the couch going through some papers his assistant had brought with her from work. Their heads were leaning over documents, lips moving silently as they read. The distant noise of water splashing was the only thing to disturb silence but that couldn’t interrupt them in any way... Until there was a screeching sound of a tap turning, and a couple of minutes later Mitchell went out of the bathroom, his curly raven-black hair soaking wet from the shower, a white towel wrapped around his thighs. Just low enough to see the belly-button, yet decently high not to abash Dawn. 

Anders couldn’t help but whistle playfully making his assistant roll her eyes.

“Would you look at that,” he murmured biting his lower lip. 

The vampire glanced at Dawn and made an apologetic face. “I couldn’t find anything better because the bathrobe had mysteriously disappeared. Again.”

The last words were clearly addressed to Anders, whose smile became wider than ever.

“What, are you saying that I hid it on purpose?” he grinned. “Well, even if I did. Who could’ve blamed me?” 

“You know, it’s quite cold in here, actually,” Mitchell complained, shivering.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” the blond mused staring at his boyfriend’s chest, his lips parted slightly.

“Anders, I appreciate you having some sort of healthy relationship for a change,” Dawn cut in with a sigh, “but spare me the details, please.”

“I’ll better go put something on,” Mitchell backed away with a guilty smile and left, Anders’s eyes following his back. 

“Look, it’s just two more clients,” Dawn implored, “and then I’ll go and you can do whatever it is on your mind right now.”

“You know me too well, Dawnsie.”

“I’d rather not.”

“And still,” Anders continued, looking pensively at the door of the bedroom, “I can’t miss _this_ opportunity.”

“What do you mean? Oh, you’re not gonna —”

“Nah, don’t worry,” Johnson rubbed his hands together, stood up and grabbed his phone, opening the camera. “I just have to capture this glorious view.” 

And what a glorious view it was indeed, since, when he entered the room, the towel had just fell on the floor leaving Mitchell stark naked.

“I see you found the bathrobe after all,” Anders smirked taking a picture of his back. And then the one half-turned as Mitchell darted a surprised glance at him. “Oh yes, nice one,” he murmured to the screen.

“What are you doing?” the vampire asked cautiously, slowly getting dressed.

“Capturing a moment,” the blond broke into slight close-lipped smile. “Why didn’t I think of it before? You are very photogenic.”

“That’s not funny,” Mitchell frowned, his jaw clenched a bit.

“Exactly, it is very much not. See for yourself,” Anders offered him the phone while an angry look crossed the brunet's face. 

“You know perfectly well — ” he snarled quietly, a hint of menace in his voice. 

It took him a second to look down and realize.

“What the… How did… How did you do that?” Mitchell whispered, his eyes wide-open.

“I expected you to be familiar with such a technology.”

“No, you stupid, how did you take a picture _of me?!”_ Mitchell demanded, overwhelmed in his disbelief.

“Erm… I—I pressed the button,” Johnson looked at him blankly. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Are you kidding me?!” he blew out a breath, trying to calm down.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Mitchell, I don't have time to play.”

“I can’t be caught on camera!”

“Huh?”

“I can’t be caught on camera…” the vampire repeated and gazed down at the screen, suddenly feeling numb. 

“I thought you said mirrors,” Anders furrowed his brow.

“Mirrors _and_ photos. I don’t have a reflection, I cannot be photographed.”

“Are you… sure? Apparently you can.”

“Trust me, I _am_ sure,” Mitchell said, between his teeth, without looking up. “A few years ago I was in the cell, and each and every cop at that bloody station came and looked at me through their cameras as if I was some sort of attraction. A freak.” 

“First of all, Mitch,” he sighed, “we’ve talked about this before. You are not a freak. You’re one hell of a gorgeously looking vampire, okay?” Anders waited for him to nod. “And second, maybe your…condition… doesn’t apply to, uh, new models? Or what, are we having a collective hallucination here? This is just— Dawn! Could you come here please!” Anders called and pinched his nose. “And take your phone with you!”

Soon Dawn appeared in the hall and leaned against the doorpost. “What now?” she asked impatiently.

“Can you see me?” Mitchell showed her the picture, not quite realizing he was nude there.

Dawn quickly covered half of the screen with her hands with a muffled _oooh_. 

“Whatever game it is you two are playing—” she started, folding her arms.

“Did you know that vampires can’t be caught on camera?” Anders interrupted, his lips pressed tight.

“Well, yes, Mitchell told me—”

“How come you never told _me_?” the blond looked indignantly at his lover. 

“I did. You never listen.”

“I do!”

“W-w-wait. Hang on. You took the photo?” Dawn raised an eyebrow. “How is that possible?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Look, can we use yours… just to be on the safe side?” Mitchell asked gently, even though something twisted cold knots into his chest and stomach. _It was a mistake. Just a horrible, cruel mistake. There’s just something wrong with Anders’s phone. It won’t work again. It won’t. Don't get your hopes up too high, John._

“Sure,” Dawn opened the camera and pointed at Mitchell. Obviously, there was just an empty room on the screen. The wall, the bed, the towel on the floor and… “Nothing,” she shook her head sadly, nudging Anders for standing too close to her.

Mitchell’s heart sank. _Nothing, of course. There’s no such thing as miracles. Especially for cold-blooded dangerous vampires._

“This can’t be… Just, uh… Just give me that,” Johnson tried to tear the gadget out of her hands, and the strangest thing happened – as soon as he touched it, Mitchell’s distinct image appeared for two seconds right where it should be.

“Whoa! What did you just do?” Dawn exclaimed.

“What happened?” Mitchell moved forward with eager desire to know but was stopped by Anders’s ‘don’t move’ gesture.

“You weren’t there, and then… Anders, do this again.”

“But I don’t know wh—” he faltered when the phone was handed over to him again. And there was Mitchell. There definitely was his beloved vampire. Anders exchanged a helpless look with Dawn and managed a reassuring smile at Mitchell. “It’s working. I have no idea how, but it is fucking working.”

In order to prove his point, Johnson came closer and draped an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders, opening front camera. “See?” 

Mitchell has literally frozen, not able to turn his gaze out of the screen. It’s been decades since he’d seen himself properly. Not on the old army photo but in real-time mode. His face – paralyzed with all sorts of emotions, tension in the eyes, shoulders shaking. He could _finally_ see, and it was strange. But good. Being a vampire sometimes felt like a handicap in a way. Brushing his teeth, combing his hair, dressing up – he has been depraved of all these simple acts, not having the slightest idea of how he looked like. After a few years he didn’t care anymore. His charm was quite enough to attract new victims to feed on, and that was all he needed. 

No, Mitchell didn’t care. Or did he?

He took a deep breath and shook his head, coming back to earth. To his reflection. Only then did he notice a soft subtle smile in the corners of Anders’s mouth and a happy twinkle in his eye. Mitchell reached out and stroked his cheek tenderly, not breaking eye contact, wishing to stay for a little longer in a world where he was normal and loved.

“So,” the brunet croaked after some time, “what is it? Gods?”

“Fuck if I know.”

“I think it’s the part of _your_ powers, Anders, ” Dawn pondered. “Because poetry is art, and so is taking photographs, in a way…”

“But that’s just— What you said, I am the God of _poetry_. I use my words, not my… hands,” Johnson protested, looking confused. “It doesn’t make sense. We'd better ask Olaf later.”

“Your powers could work differently on vampires,” Mitchell suggested.

“Well, I would’ve known.”

“But you’ve never met one before me,” Mitchell said with a wistful smile.

“Yeah… I guess…” 

Anders lowered his eyes, trying to grasp his new powers. A whirlwind of questions filled his head. _Why would a god, let alone Bragi, have a thing for vampires? Not a word of it has been said in the Norse mythology. Maybe… maybe it was destiny after all, his meeting with Mitchell? Maybe they were meant to be together? How else could he explain a set of powers designed to deal with all the vampire-ish problems his lover had?_ He checked himself sharply. _Too many questions. And destiny is just a pile of crap._ One thing he knew for sure – it made Mitchell happy. Nothing else mattered.

Anders met the vampire’s eyes and they looked at each other for a long moment.

“Hey,” the blond grinned warmly all of a sudden as a brilliant idea flashed into his mind, “do you think it works on mirrors as well?”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I have this weird canon where vampires have an interesting influence on some of the gods and vice versa. In case of Anders, for example, it's making Mitchell visible on photos and in mirrors.


End file.
